Stranger In My House
by Editor-Bug
Summary: Fudge Hopkins is a perfect little boy with a perfect little family to boot. But one day, a mysterious green boy and his dog show up at his house, and his entire life goes downhill from there... WARNING: Contains Zim being creepy.
1. Saturday

(A/N: Writing all these is really taking up time, I love it, though! Well, I suppose that's all I have to say. Here's the story and I hope you enjoy it!

Plus, this kid, once again, is not really an OC. I'm just using him for the story.)

It was just a normal Saturday in the life of Fudge Hopkins. He got out of bed at 7:00 in the morning and greeted his tabby cat, Sprinkles. The ten-year old shuffled downstairs to greet his family and have some breakfast. Such a little goody two-shoes was Fudge.

And when he got into he got into his kitchen, he greeted his little goody two-shoes family.

"Good morning, Mother!"

"Good morning, Fudge."

"Good morning, Father!"

"Ah, good morning, Fudge."

"Good morning, dear, unnamed older sister!"

"Morning, Fudge."

"Good morning, strange green dog!"

"HI!"

"Good morning, strange green kid!"

"Heh? Oh, uh, good morning, Fudge-human."

Fudge did a double take. At his feet was a green dog with huge eyes and a zipper down its chest, and sitting at the table next to his sister was a green boy with black hair and gloves and...very odd clothing. He was eating a vanilla wafer.

"Uh...what's going on here?" he asked his family, concerned.

They all turned to face him."Whatever do you mean?"

"Wh-Who are these people?"

Fudge's perfect mother giggled a perfect giggle and placed her perfect hands on the green boy's shoulders. He seemed repulsed at first, but quickly recovered.

"Oh, Fudge! Don't tell me that you don't remember Zim! He's lived next door to us for years!"

"Yes, indeed I have," this "Zim" nodded.

"No, he hasn't..." Fudge told her."What happened to the Johnsons?"

"The who?"

"Oh, never mind him," Zim said dismissively."The boy hasn't had his breakfast yet, his mind is all clouded and silly."

Fudge's mom smiled, kissed Zim's forehead and got back to cooking. Zim promptly gagged and rubbed the lipstick off with his wrist.

Fudge had no idea what was happening, but being the goody-goody that he was, he decided to trust his family and go along with it. So, when his sister got up, he sat where she had just been sitting, beside Zim.

He tried to smile at him, but only received a glare. Fudge looked down as the green dog squirmed into Zim's lap.

"So..." Fudge attempted small talk."How old are you?"

"Um!" Zim was suddenly nervous. He glanced down at GIR, who grinned back."I'm eleven years old! Just as YOU are, Fudge!"

"I'm ten..." Fudge replied, but Zim's smile faded, so he changed the subject.

"What's your dog's name?"

Zim seemed more comfortable with this question."Why don't you ask him yourself, Fudgy?"

"My name is GIR!" piped the dog.

"And...you're a talking dog?"

"YES!"

"JEEZ, Fudge, stop bombarding them with questions!" snapped Fudge's sister.

Zim scoffed and waved it off."Fudge-mother, I'm afraid my dear parental units are out of town for the weekend, may I please stay here?"

"*gasp* MOM! PLEASE LET HIM STAY!" Fudge's sister begged.

"Oh, of course he can!" the mother agreed."Right, honey?"

"Right," Fudge's father nodded."Grab your things back at your place, and you're welcome to stay, Zim. As long as you like."

The green boy grinned villainously."Oh, I have everything I need..."

He looked down at GIR, who again returned a smile, then at Fudge, who stared back.

"And when I go to work during the day, you and Fudge can play together," the businessman dad continued.

"YES, the boy and I will have LOTS of fun," Zim mused."Right, GIR?"

GIR began laughing uncontrollably. Soon, Zim and the rest of Fudge's family joined him.

Fudge shuddered and got back to his breakfast.

XXXXXXXTHATNIGHTXXXXXXX

Fudge had a surprising normal day, despite how odd breakfast was. He watched TV, played with his cat, did some taxes, fifteen minutes of cardio, and back to TV. He had eaten his three square meals and was ready for bed. No, he didn't take a shower. Saturday was his dirty day.

The only bothering him was...where was that green kid?

He took a walk around, looking for him, when he could hear pained mewls coming from the basement.

"Sprinkles?!" He dashed over to the basment door and tried to open it, but it was locked."Somebody! Help! Sprinkles is in trouble!"

All of a sudden, the door swung opening, knocking Fudge over, and Sprinkles and GIR came flying out.

"COME BACK!" cried GIR as he chased the poor cat around."I WANT YOU INSIDE ME!"

Fudge got up and dusted himself off as his family came running from upstairs.

"What happened?! Are you okay?!"

"Yeah..." Fudge assured them."I-I thought I heard Sprinkles i-in trouble..."

"What...?" His father lowered the golf club he was holding.

"Hello, everyone..." Zim slunk out of the basement, making sure to close the door behind him."Is there something wrong here?"

"What were you doing to our cat?!" Fudge jabbed a finger in his face.

The Hopkins family gasped.

"FUDGE!" his mother exclaimed."How DARE you accuse Zim of doing ANYTHING to harm Sprinkles!"

"Zim wouldn't do that!" his sister chided him."He LOVES animals!"

"Go straight to your room, mister!" his father ordered."Time for bed!"

Fudge eyed Zim in concerned disbelief as the strange boy simply looked away, smiling innocently. But so NOT innocent at the same time.

He solemnly did as his father said.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Fudge's sister tucked her brother in, and his parents kissed him. GIR did the same, strangely. Zim was disgusted by the display, but he was the last person in the room when everyone else had gone.

With a gloved hand, he pulled Fudge's blanket up to his neck and held it there.

"Good night, sweet Fudge Hopkins," he fiddled with the sheet at the boy's throat."I promise to play with you after church tomorrow..."

Zim marched out of the room like a soldier, leaving Fudge petrified.

(A/N: Really adding to my workload by doing this...

This was going to be a one-shot, but I changed my mind. I guess I'll keep working on this.

Sorry, I just have a thing for making Zim creepy. Alright, please review, fave and follow for more, and I shall see you next time...)


	2. Sunday

(A/N: Hey, guys! Here's the second chapter, in which Zim goes to church with the Hopkins. Maybe I should change the rating for Zim's Satanic tendencies?...NAH! I'll put a warning up, though. Hey. It isn't K+ for nothing. THERE'S A PLUS!)

"Fudge! Wake up! It's time to go to church!"

"I'm coming, Dad!"

Fudge hurried down the stairs and combed his hair. He and his family were dressed in their finest Sunday clothes and ready to get their weekly dose of Christianity. His father gave he and his sister a dollar each so that they could put it in the charity basket.

"Ah!" squeaked Fudge when he noticed Zim behind his mother. He had forgotten that he stayed the night. The green boy was now wearing a navy blue suit, but he still had the black boots and gloves on.

"Hello, Fudge," Zim greeted him."Did you sleep well?"

"Uh, yep!" he replied with a smile. He wasn't going to let Zim put him in an uneasy mood. He remembered the last time he had looked upset at church...the horror...

"Well, let's go!"

XXXXXXXAWKWARDCARRIDEXXXXXXX

Fudge always liked to sing in church. The songs were catchy and upbeat, so they were just for him. He also loved the band that played along, and so did his family. Zim, on the other hand didn't seem very into it. He even seemed irritated by it all.

Fudge leaned over and whispered to him."Are you upset because you couldn't bring GIR in with you?" It was a known rule that no pets were allowed in the church unless they were seeing eye dogs, so GIR was waiting outside.

Zim gave him a strange look.

"Why in the world would I be upset about something as insignificant as that?" He turned back to the choir."It gives me a break from his incessant babbling, anyway. You know, when you reach my age, you'll learn that there are more consequential things to spend your emotions on."

"...but you're only eleven," Fudge reminded him of the tiny age gap.

"What?" Zim asked, confused. He looked around for a few seconds, then he seemed to remember."Ah, yes. It's a very...changing age."

"Oh." Fudge had heard about the stress of puberty before. Poor Zim. He was dealing with a changing body AND his parents left him with the neighbors. He must have truly been happy to have GIR and Fudge around for him.

"Our father, who art in Heaven..."

"Ah!" Fudge grabbed Zim's gloved right hand and joined in the prayer. When he turned to grin at him, Zim was looking back at Fudge with a disgusted and furious look on his green face.  
>Fudge immediately let go of his hand.<p>

Before they knew it, the service was over, and on the way back home, Zim, GIR and Fudge rode in the back of the pickup truck. Their hair blew in the warm wind that whipped around them.

"So, how was your first time at church?" Fudge asked Zim."Wasn't it fun?"

"No, it was horrible. I hated it," Zim replied coldly. GIR wiggled in his lap.

"...can I pet your dog?" asked Fudge.

"Sure, why not?" Zim set GIR down next to him, then looked to the other side. It seemed like he was thinking about something else.

"Pet me. Pet me!" GIR pulled Fudge's hand down onto his head and rubbed it around.

"Wow, you're surprisingly strong," Fudge breathed. He pet GIR even harder.

...

He could feel something through the skin...! Something like...an antenna?

It felt cold and metallic. Hesitantly, he knocked on GIR's forehead a couple times. It made a hollow sound!

Zim heard this and snapped back around. He snatched GIR away.

"ENOUGH!" he shouted at Fudge."No more petting!"

"Aww..." moped GIR.

"S-Sorry!" Fudge said, in a daze.

It was silent for the rest of the ride home.

(A/N: Yay, I finally finished Chapter 2! I'm so proud of myself HA HA!  
>Just so you know, I hate going to church. The singing, the forced beliefs, the people who only go there on Easter so that they can pretend to be Christians. And it's so freaking repetitive! I hate when I have to hold hands! My brother's hand is all gross and twitchy and clammy...but anywho.<p>

Please review, fave, follow, and check out my other stories! Thank you for reading, and I shall see you next time!

PS, I'm gonna start naming the chapters!)


	3. Monday

(A/N: Hey, hey, hey! I'm back-a-lack! AND black-a-lack! No, really, I am black.)

The next day, Fudge was up bright and early. He was going through his normal routine of getting ready for school; Eating his breakfast, brushing his teeth and getting dressed and such. All of that good stuff.  
>As you probably guessed Fudge was a straight-A student who was never late. He was the teacher's pet and he never missed a day of school his entire life. What a perfect little freak.<p>

When got downstairs, he saw that his sister was ready to go, but where was Zim?

He found he and GIR on the living room couch watching TV. Zim was wrapped up in a violet blanket, which he was struggling to keep GIR from climbing into.

"Uh, hi," Fudge greeted him."You aren't coming to school with us?"

Zim didn't bother turning around before responding."Not feeling well today. Can't go to school. Bye."

"..."

"..."

"...well, alright, then." Fudge turned and walked back into the foyer."Time to go, sis."  
>Sprinkles brushed up against his leg. He knelt down and pet it."Bye, Sprinkles. I'll play with you when I get back from school."<p>

XXXXXXXSCHOOLXXXXXX

"Okay, class," announced Fudge's teacher, Mrs. Bernstein."Your only homework for the week is the vinegar and baking soda project. It's due Thursday, but it counts for 100% of your grade, so do not procrastinate!"

One girl raised her hand."What's 'procrastinate' mean?"

"It's a verb. It means to put off until the last minute," Fudge answered her.  
>Mrs. Bernstein thanked him like the perfect little teacher's pet that he was.<p>

The class was upset with the project. 100% of their grade? No wonder they hadn't done any work all year.  
>But, of course, Fudge was happy. He just had to ace the project and he would get an A in the class.<p>

The bell rang and the class ended. Fudge met up with his sister behind the school and they walked home together.  
>He was already planning out his project in his head.<p>

XXXXXXXBACKHOMEXXXXXXX

"Here, Sprinkles!" Fudge whistled for his cat. Sprinkles mewed and stepped up to Fudge.

Then he clawed him in the knee.

"YOW! Sprinkles!" Fudge exclaimed.

Sprinkles ran away.

Fudge tried not to let it bother him. He got a band-aid from the kitchen drawer and put it on his bloody knee.

"That really hurt..."

He hurried upstairs to his room to get started on his chemical reactions assignment.  
>Before he could reach the doorknob, Zim hurried his way out.<p>

"Huh?" Fudge eyed him with confusion."What were you doing in my room?"

"Nothing," he heard Zim mutter.

Fudge shrugged and closed the door behind him. He sat down on his bed and looked at his knee with concern.  
>Then he heard a noise. Rumbling.<br>Something was rumbling under his bed.

Now, Fudge wasn't the type to believe in monsters under the bed, but...

He bent down to take a peek. It...it was...

"There's dust and boogies under here!"

Fudge sighed with relief. It was just GIR.

Footsteps thundered up the stairs and kicked Fudge's bedroom door open. It was Zim. And he was not pleased.

He yanked GIR out from under the bed and put his leash on him. Wordlessly, he left the room again.

Fudge felt bad for little GIR, but he knew that Zim just loved him and didn't want him to get lost.  
>I mean, what were the chances he would able to find another talking dog?<p>

XXXXXXXBEDTIMEXXXXXXX

"Mom...Sprinkles has had all his shots, right?"

"Of course, sweetie. We're perfect," she kissed Fudge on the forehead."We would never miss a vet appointment. Now hurry to sleep; you have school tomorrow."

Fudge watched his mother leave the room."...wait!"

She paused."What is it?"

"Where does Zim sleep?"

She looked at Fudge strangely, and blinked a few times before answering.

"In the basement, honey. Don't go disturbing him, now."

Mrs. Hopkins turned out the hall light and went to bed.

(A/N: I've decided to cover one day per chapter.  
>Trust me, I've got stuff planned out.<p>

Please review, fave and follow, and I shall see you next time.)


	4. Tuesday

(A/N: Hello! Let's get right down to Chapter 4!)

Fudge didn't see Zim before he went to school that morning. He figured he must have still been sleeping in the basement. There were rats and spiders down there. The boy decided to finish his homework early and spend all of his extra time with the strange green boy.

If he was going to be staying there, he might as well get to know him, right? It was the right thing to do, after all.

So, that day, Fudge hurried home from another day of test acing as quickly as his little legs would carry him. FOR ZIM!

When his homework was complete, he made his way down the stairs with his toy box. Hopefully, Zim would show some interest. He set the box down in the living room and knocked on the door to the basement.

Zim soon showed up and opened it.

"Hello?" He greeted like the basement was his home.

"Hi, Zim! Wanna come out and play?"

"Play? With you?" Zim said it like doing such a thing would infect him with a terminal illness.

"I mean, since we're neighbors and all..." Fudge fumbled for words. Something about Zim's sour tone caused him discomfort."And, I don't know you very well...could you please- -"

"ALRIGHT!" Zim cut him off."Hurry and set up your playthings; I have one last thing to tend to and I shall be right up."

Fudge tried to peek past him."What are you doing down there?"

"..."

SLAM!

Just like that, the door to the basement was closed again.

Fudge let out a sigh and set up his toys in front of the couch. He would keep trying to be polite to Zim, despite the fact that he didn't understand him. His parents had taught him that every person deserves to be treated with kindness, to treat others how you would like them to treat you, and most importantly- -oh, he's already here.

"So, what are we going to play with?" Zim attempted a friendly speech pattern.

Fudge couldn't help but correct his error."Zim, you're not supposed to end a sentence with a preposition."

The look on Zim's face showed that he clearly did not understand...

"...like, you should have said 'With what are we going to play?'..."

"LIAR!" Zim stamped his foot."I said what I should have said!"

"Okay, okay!" Fudge raised his hands defensively."What do you want to play, Zim?"

The green boy rummaged around in the toy box, grumbling to himself."Do you have any chess?"

"Uhm, we have checkers."

"..." Zim continued searching the box and muttered "insufficient". Eventually, he just decided to let Fudge decide. With a tussle of his bright red hair, Fudge decided to build some blocks with Zim.

"Hmm!" Zim actually seemed to like this idea. A smirk grew on his face as Fudge laid out the blocks."And what will we be constructing?"

"How about...an office building?" Fudge held up an action figure; it was a man in a suit."For Business Man to work on his taxes!"

Zim wasn't too thrilled by this concept, but he didn't have any better ideas, so he finally knelt down and helped Fudge build a "foundation". The two of them took turns stacking one block at a time, and the building slowly took shape.

The silence was awkward. Up until this point, Fudge hadn't ever been alone with Zim; GIR or the rest of the Hopkins family were always close by, and Zim would keep most of his focus on his dog. At least if GIR were there, it would surely provide some random break of the silence. Looked like Fudge would have to deal with that on his own...

"Where's GIR?"

"...hm?" Zim looked up."Forgive me, I was lost in thought."

Fudge was surprised by how pleasantly his odd house guest had just addressed him."I asked where GIR is."

"He's in the basement," Zim said out of the corner of his mouth.

Of course. What response was Fudge expecting, exactly? His parents were at work, and his sister was locked up her room. She did that often.

He dismissed that topic and the tranquility resumed.

"...who's 'we'?" Zim asked suddenly.

"What?"

"You said 'we have checkers'," Zim reminded him. He was giving Fudge a hard look, and he repeated his question."Who is this 'we'?"

"I just meant my family and I..." Fudge trailed off. Did Zim really not know what he meant? Was it a pronoun thing?

"Are you from a different country?"

Zim let a chuckle slip at this. Fudge took that as a "yes". He pressed on with his questions.

"Why are you green?"

"It's a skin condition."

"Oh."

Wow, Zim sure was docile when GIR wasn't around.

"Are you feeling better?" Fudge clasped his hands together in his lap."You didn't come to school yesterday. Or today."

"I don't go to that school. My school is very far away. It's very filthy."

"But why? You live next door, don't you? I mean, that's what you- -Ah!" Fudge's gesture had accidentally knocked his hand into the blocks, tipping them over.

Zim bristled with rage. He took a deep breath and built the base over again. Fudge didn't join him this time.

"...I had forgotten what silence sounds like," Zim thought out loud. He was doing that a lot. Maybe it had something to do with the building? As long it kept Zim talking to him, Fudge was all for it. For what seemed like the first time all after noon, Zim noticed something about the child sitting next to him.

It was the bandaid on his right knee.

"Um, Sprinkles...scratched me," Fudge answered before he could ask.

"Oh, I'm so sorry...pfft..." Zim murmured. He was obviously trying to hide a smile. What was he so joyful about...? Fudge was unfamiliar with the idea of laughing at another's pain.

Must have just been a cultural thing. Hey, maybe Zim was German? Schadenfreude and all that...

Zim perked up, seemingly having recalled something."But I was referring to you."

_"What?" _Fudge must have missed something Zim had said while he silently questioned his nationality. At least, that's what he thought...

"I was referring to you, Fudge-human, not your entire assortment of relatives." Zim stacked another block.

"'Fudge-human'? Why do you call me that?"

"Zim asked a question first!"

"You just spoke in third person...why did you do that?"

"ANSWER!"

"Okay!" Fudge complied, despite his massive confusion."Uh, well, when you said 'you', I just thought you meant whatever was in the house, and...the house belongs to my family, not just me...so, that's why I said that."

Wow, that sounded better in his head. It was hard to explain out loud...

Zim didn't respond to that, and he left Fudge's previous two questions unanswered. He just kept building the skyscraper. It was looking pretty good.

...

More awkward silence.

...

Zim hissed at Fudge when he tried grabbing another building block. Fudge didn't move after that.

...

"I don't see why you felt the need to bring your family into this," said Zim."You say that as if I address all of you."

Fudge groaned.

He didn't like this.

He didn't like juggling between politeness and rudeness, being addressed as "Fudge-human", and not being allowed to play with his own blocks.

He didn't like having a broken conversation, being cut off from his own basement, and having to break awkward silences.

Fudge did not like this...stranger, who showed up at his house and treated his family like his own.

He didn't like Zim.

...what was that? Fudge had never not liked someone in his life.

It felt horrible.

(A/N: Mmmm, I dunno about this chapter. Sort of dragged on at bits. But I tried to fit certain stuff in there, and maybe I'll edit more later. I'm just glad I finally updated!

I hope you enjoyed, please review, fave and follow, and I shall see you next time. Au revoir!)


	5. Wednesday

(A/N: I swear to gosh I finally watched _Paranorman _the other day and there was a grave that said "HERE LIES FUDGE HOPKINS")

* * *

><p>The next day, Wednesday, Fudge awoke with no recollection of what had taken place before.<p>

The clock read 11:38 AM. Just great, he was missing school. But why was his alarm turned off...? He was in his bed, and wearing his pajamas...which he didn't remember changing into.

This was getting weirder and weirder. Fudge felt faint, but he didn't want to go to sleep without finding out what went on.

Soon enough, the door started creaking open. Fortunately, it was only his mother.

"Mom!" Fudge exclaimed."What happened? I don't remember going to bed last night!"

"Oh, we were all so worried about you, Fudge." His mother sat upon his bed and gently stroked his hair."Zim said that you passed out yesterday while you two were playing a game."

Fudge could not control his shivers, remembering...that guy he disliked. Was the feeling really so foreign to his body that it knocked him out?

"And then what?"

"Well, he got you changed and set you to bed."

"Ah...!" Fudge pulled up his covers. Zim had undressed him...he felt so violated. And honestly, a little frustrated that he could remember nothing aside from the discomfort Zim caused him.

"You should stay home today, sweetie," Mrs. Hopkins continued."Your sister has gone to school and your father is at work. I have to leave at noon, so you'll have Zim to take care of you."

"No!" Fudge blurted out."I don't like Zim!"

"_Fudge! _If you are not nice to Zim, you are going to bed with no dessert, do you hear me? Now stop this nonsense and behave!" Mrs. Hopkins left the room in a huff.

Fudge stared after her before glancing at his clock. 11:40 AM. He simply sat in bed until 12:10 PM; his mother had gone by then. Great, now he was stuck alone with Zim and GIR.

He finally worked up the nerve to get up and decided to get showered and dressed for the day. Afterwards, he ate breakfast, and noticed that Zim wasn't around. He figured that Zim must have still been asleep in the basement.

Fudge still felt a little nauseous, so he got some water to drink and went outside for some fresh air. The sky was very gray and depressing, which was normal for March, Fudge supposed. It never got him down, anyway; gray was such a pretty color.

Then, he remembered back to that Saturday. The Johnsons lived next door, right? Right. So, why did Zim say that he- -

...

Gone.

The entire Johnson home...gone without a trace.

There was an entire empty lot of dirt where their house once stood.

Fudge couldn't believe it. How does an entire house just disappear? Even if it did, then where did Zim come from? What did he have to do with the disappearance? And why didn't his family notice?

The ground beneath Fudge's feet was barren and dry as he stepped over the plot of land. He found nothing there, so he went around his house to the backyard. Fudge still had some hula hoops and stuff lying in the grass there. Anything to take his mind off of this ordeal.

As he bent down to pick up a yoyo, Fudge noticed a misplaced patch of grass. It looked as if the patch had been pulled up like a bandaid, then lazily put back.

Fudge was hesitant to look beneath it; he didn't remember digging that up. Curiosity got the better of him, and ripped it right off. There was definitely something underneath, so Fudge lifted the dirt out of the way.

And what he saw...nearly made him vomit. It looked like matted fur, all pulled and grey...just like Sprinkles's fur. The mass seemed the same size as Sprinkles...

In his nausea, Fudge replaced the patch of grass. He started to get a headache, as a thousand thoughts buzzed anxiously about his mind. He could hardly stand. He frantically wiped sweat from his forehead and took steady breaths. He could feel the saliva building up in his mouth.

He threw up in the grass.

From behind him, Fudge could hear Zim open the back door.

"What are you doing out there?" asked the green boy.

Fudge struggled to answer. "I-I, I was, I was...!"

Zim gave him an irritated look. "Come inside, human, I've prepared some breakfast." With that, he closed the door.

Fudge hurried to the back door, not looking back for a second. He felt so stressed, he thought he might cry. When he sat down at the table, Fudge, saw two plates of waffles, and reached for the closer one.

"DON'T TOUCH THAT!" Zim exclaimed from across the kitchen, causing Fudge to jolt violently. "That plate is for your sister! Take the other one!"

So, Fudge took the other one.  
>The waffles were okay, if not a bit soggy. The entire time Fudge spent eating, Zim was just on the other side of the kitchen, constantly fiddling with something or other.<p>

Fudge washed down his waffles with some milk, and decided he needed to get out of the house.

"Uhm, I'm going outside for a bit," he told Zim.

"Oh, good," Zim replied without thinking.

Fudge raised an eyebrow. "Wh-Why is that good?"

"Because you seem stressed, my dear," said Zim in what sounded like fake concern.

Fudge ignored this, slipped his coat on, and rushed outside to clear his head.

He began thinking as he rounded the neighborhood.

Okay, so the Johnson home disappeared. Fudge wasn't entirely sure when this had happened. Did Zim have something to do with this? Oh, if only he had been paying attention when he went to church that Sunday! But none of his family seemed to notice, and before that, it seemed they didn't even remember the Johnsons, their neighbors for five years. Just what was going on?  
>He missed the Johnsons...they were a kind and innocent agnostic family with a seven-year old son, John. Yes, his full name was John Johnson. Fudge had basically seen him grow up and go to school. It was very sad that his family didn't care that they went missing. There was no logical explanation in sight.<p>

As for Zim, well, he was another big mystery, of almost an opposite degree. How come his family seemed to know him, but Fudge didn't? Before that Saturday, Fudge had never seen Zim in his life. That, and he freaked him out.

Then, Sprinkles...Fudge just couldn't bear to think that his cat had died and...Zim had something to do with it. He had been doing something to the feline in the basement on Saturday, after all.  
>Fudge was beginning to think that everything strange happening was because of Zim. After all, everything was fine before he and GIR showed up.<p>

There was no way it could all be coincidence. The strange things happening were somehow being caused by Zim, no doubt about it. Fudge decided he would have to be more careful around him from now on.

Before Fudge knew it, he was back at his house. He went inside, hoping to finish his chemical reactions project.  
>Sheesh, was it Wednesday already? Fudge was running out of time to finish.<p>

He hurried inside, prepared to deal with Zim however he had to. He couldn't mess around anymore.

Fudge gripped his cheeks, pulling at them. "Focus, focus, FOCUS!" He exhaled.

Just as he was about to head upstairs, Fudge heard noise coming from the basement. He couldn't even describe the noise; it sounded almost alien. And frankly, it sort of hurt his ears.

Following the odd sound, Fudge found himself staring at the basement door. Oh, he knew his mother told him not to bother Zim...but it WAS his basement! He should be able to go there when he wants!

Curiosity got the better of him, and Fudge was opening the door, entering the darkness of the basement. He silently closed the door behind him and started down the stairs. Fudge's shoes tapped at the cold floor of the basement, and he felt around. The noise he heard was coming in short, quick intervals, mingling with the pace of Fudge's own heartbeat.

In the area near the furnace, Fudge saw green glowing, and he hid behind a box, then peeked around. There was something in the way of the glow, a figure about Zim's size.  
>Was that Zim? But...this creature looked like it had antennae...creepy.<p>

Fudge didn't know. Some part of him wanted to call out to the figure, asking just what its deal was. But when he opened his mouth nothing happened. Or was that freaky zapping sound just that loud and frequent now?

Suddenly, Fudge couldn't seem to tell what was going on. This felt like a dream. Was he too quiet to hear, or was he speaking at all? What was that noise, zapping, or his heart? Was the glow green, or was the person in front of it green? Or both? Or neither?

Fudge just...he had to run! He got up on his numb legs, and took off out of the basement, stomping all the way.

He was still dazed...was that Zim he heard calling after him? Or was it the Zim-sized figure?

...

When Fudge got to his room, he slammed the door behind him, and made sure to lock it. He climbed into bed and forced himself to sleep. He didn't get up for the rest of the day.

* * *

><p>(AN: A'ight, kids, I've gotta split. Feels mad good to update after so long; sorry.

Fun fact: Fudge's house is modeled after my aunt's house. That...doesn't really matter, but okay. Next chapter, things get...well, you'll see.

Also, I've been working on a crapton of South Park stuff lately, so...yeeeeee, wait for that.

Buh-bye!)


	6. Thursday

All Fudge could remember when he woke up was him telling himself to go to sleep the previous day. He'd lain in bed for about an hour quietly saying "Go to sleepgotosleepgotosleep" to himself over and over again.

He got up feeling groggy, and a little sick. Ugh, he had morning breath. Fudge stumbled into the bathroom and used the mouthwash. As he was gargling, he remembered something that made his eyes widen.

"My chemical reactions project!" he sputtered. "It's due today!"

Fudge rushed out of the bathroom and checked the clock. It was 5:30 AM. Great, he didn't have much time to work.

Still rushing, he made his way down the stairs, into the kitchen. There, he saw his beloved parents, both sitting at the table, and taking turns drinking out of a small, metallic bottle. They both looked extremely depressed, and there were definitive bags beneath their eyes, as if they hadn't gotten any sleep at all.

"Mother? Father? What's the matter?" Fudge asked with concern.

After a bit of silence, his mother groaned.

"Oh, Fudge! It's your sister! She's..." The woman paused to sob. "Dead!"

Fudge froze. He couldn't move or speak if he tried.

"We found her body on the kitchen floor when we got home last night," his father went on solemnly. "We don't know what happened; there was no blood, nothing...but we called the mortician to take her away so that you wouldn't have to see her like that."

"No...blood?" Fudge asked.

"NO!" His mother cried.

Fudge could remember clearly now. After he had seen the cat buried in the backyard, he had returned inside for breakfast. And Zim was the one who made the waffles.

_"DON'T TOUCH THAT!"_, Zim had shrieked. He had been saving one particular plate of waffles for Fudge's sister. And he must have poisoned it!

"She was killed," gasped Fudge.

"What are you talking about?" Mr. Hopkins asked. "Who...?"

"It was- -!" Fudge turned to see Zim emerging from the basement.

Zim looked at the forlorn family. "What's the matter?"

"IT WAS YOU!" screamed Fudge, tackling Zim with all his might. This being the first time he had attacked anyone, he didn't judge his force very well, and he and Zim went tumbling down the basement steps.

Fudge clasped his hands around Zim's neck and squeezed, but Zim remained stone-faced. He could hear his parents yelling from above, but he ignored them, even ignoring his own bruising from falling down the stairs. When they reached the bottom, Fudge slammed Zim's head into the floor with an audible thud.

"You killed my sister! YOU KILLED HER, YOU KILLED HER, YOU KILLED HER!" Fudge repeated, slamming Zim's head each time. The green boy suddenly grew anxious when he began to bleed, and cover the back of his head with both hands.

Fudge's parents hurried down the stairs and pried their son off of Zim.

"What has gotten into you?!"

"Zim, are you alright?!"

Zim stepped back away from them. "Yes, yes, I'm fine. _Don't look at me._"

Fudge pulled out of his mother's grasp. "Zim is hiding things from you! Yesterday, I came down here and saw him doing suspicious crap!"

Fudge never used the word "crap", so his parents knew he was serious as hell.

He stomped his way over to where he had seen the green glow the previous day. It was covered with a burlap cloth.

"Here it is! Look!" Fudge pulled the cloth off, revealing...his chemical reactions project...

"...what is that?" breathed Mrs. Hopkins.

"U-Uhm..."

"Your project," answered Zim. "I noticed that you didn't finish it, so I took care of it to relieve you of stress. How was I to know your sister would be poisoned?"

"POISON! HE SAID POISON!" Fudge screeched like a maniac. "He...He killed her! How would he know how she died...if he didn't...do it."

Mr. and Mrs. Hopkins stared at their son aghast and afraid. He looked he would take great delight in killing somebody. (Zim in particular)

The green boy pulled a sheet of paper from behind his back and handed it to the shaking parents.

"The autopsy arrived not long ago. Something the girl ate contained some unidentifiable, yet brilliantly effective, poison."

"Oh..." Mr. Hopkins pulled at his hair. "Who could've done this?"

"Well, you know what they say. Often the first to accuse are the ones who committed the crime," Zim stated. "Not that that applies to this particular situation."

Fudge shook his head in disbelief.

"...Fudge, go to your room," his mother said sternly. "And don't come out until further notice! Zim can drop off your project at school for you."

Now knowing what Zim was capable of, Fudge didn't even want Zim out of the house, but he was too stunned to argue. He gave Zim one final glare before heading up to his room.

There, Fudge was alone with his thoughts. The previous scene played over and over in his head for what seemed like hours.  
>Then he started fidgeting. He scratched at the bandage on his knee and smacked his palms together. He'd gotten some of Zim's blood on them, and his face scrunched up in disgust. It was...not of normal color.<p>

Fudge wasn't hearing any sounds from downstairs.

Eventually, he felt too burnt out to do anything but sleep.

* * *

><p>(AN: Alright, I promise all will be explained! There are only two chapters left and there is a somewhat planned end to all of this!

I think y'all can tell I was rushing with the ending, because ...was strapped for time and I sorta just wanted to update...but I promise the next chapter will be longer! It'll be the penultimate chapter after all! Well, please review, fave and follow, and I shall see you next time!)


	7. Friday

(A/N: Finally back to working on this crap. Wow, I'm so proud of myself...

Prepare for a lot of explanations & sadness)

* * *

><p>The next day...<p>

Fudge jolted into consciousness. He'd had a nightmare about Zim, but mere seconds after waking up, he forgot all about it. Dreams were strange like that.

Then he remembered what happened to his sister and cried. Not to mention he'd already missed a day of school. Oh, boy...

He made his way downstairs at a slow pace. Every part of his body felt like it was on fire, and despite how slowly he was going, Fudge fell forward about halfway down the stairs.

He painfully tumbled to the bottom of the stairs and started crying again. It seemed like nobody heard him, but he could've sworn he saw someone or something pass by him on the floor.

He called out for help one last time before passing out once more.

...

Later, Fudge woke up in that same position. Despite his aches, he sprang to his feet and opened the front door.

It was dark outside, but Fudge was unable to determine whether it was early morning or late night.

Something was urging him to be anywhere by where he was, almost causing Fudge to panic, but he just shut the door and retreated back inside to the silence.

However, even peace and quiet can be unsettling. And in this case, it was.

To Fudge, it felt like nobody had ever lived his home. What had once been such a lively and joyful home had become barren and twisted. He hardly recognized the place after all that had happened. All that had been happening since Zim had shown up out if the blue. So many painful emotions surrounded Zim, Fudge refused to deal with it anymore. This all needed to end.

His muscles burning, he made his way to the basement and began calling for Zim, a bit surprised by how unhinged he sounded at the moment. When he heard no reply at the top of the stairs, Fudge turned on the light, held his shoulders, and began his descent.

Stumbling a bit, Fudge finally reached the cold basement floor, and looked at his surroundings for the green boy.

"Where are you, Zim?" he asked, turning around. "Where are my parents...? And Sprinkles...what did you do to him? What did you do to my sister?" Fudge could feel tears forming just from asking these questions. "What did you do to my life...?! How...who are you? WHAT are you?! Where did you come from?! Why are you doing this, WHY this?! WHY ME?! ANSWER ME, ZIM!"

And Fudge fell to his knees in hysterics. He just didn't understand anything. This didn't feel like life anymore, or at least, it feel like what Fudge's life had been. This felt like...some series of lapses between consciousness and unconscious, dreams an nightmares, or something like that!

Zim finally emerged from the shadows. Wait. Was that Zim? He looked pretty much the same, except...he had big, bug-like magenta eyes, and two antennae on his head instead of hair.

"Mission accomplished," he declared with a smirk on his green face.

"Wh...mission, what...?" Fudge babbled, trembling. "What are you?"

"Hmm," The Zim-looking creature put a finger to his chin. "I suppose it's safe for me to let you in on the whole story now..."

Fudge tensed up and tried to back away, but he felt numb all of a sudden.

"Hey!" the creature called out. "Do you want to know or don't you?"

Though hesitantly, Fudge stayed put there on the basement floor with the ceiling lamp shining down on him. It really felt like he was being put on the spot.

"Just as I thought. Now, this is a fairly lengthy explanation, so keep the interruptions to a minimum!" He paused to clear his throat. "To answer your foolish question, I AM ZIM! A member of the Irken military, an invader, sent to your planet, Earth, to scout out its weaknesses, making it vulnerable to the Irken armada's attack..."

Upon hearing this news, Fudge began to frantically look around the room, hyperventilating. Everything started to hurt again.

"Silence!" commanded Zim. "Quiet your breathing, and be still your beating heart!"

He waited for Fudge to calm down a bit before continuing.

"AS I WAS SAYING, I was chosen for this special mission because the leaders of my race, the Almighty Tallest, know of my greatness, and have the utmost confidence in me! They even trusted me with GIR, the most advanced SIR unit ever constructed!"

"That's ME!" GIR popped out of a random box, startling Fudge, as GIR appeared to be a robot rather than a green dog. Catching the glare his master sent him, GIR dived back into the box of foam peanuts and packing tape.

Zim cleared his throat again. "So after disguising ourselves as human creatures, GIR and I seamlessly blended into your society, while you all remained unaware that you were actually being invaded!"

The sentence Zim had just said made Fudge think of how Zim had suddenly become part of the Hopkins family overnight. He shuddered. Zim must have been a truly formidable invader to pull that off.

"After some time it occurred to me. Everyone at my awful school seemed to have a 'family unit'. Well, besides my teacher, but I'm unsure that she's human...SO! These 'family units' were basically groups of humans all living together. Oh, but you probably know all about that, right, Fudge-human?"

Fudge was unable to reply.

"Long story short," Zim went on. "I continued doing research and conducting experiments on the family units of this planet. How easy it would be for them all to be destroyed systemically, as all humans are connected in one way or another...SO! I took it upon my AMAZING SELF to find the perfect family to test, and some say it is easiest to destroy something from the inside!"

Fudge could tell that Zim was about to get to the really horrifying part.

"It was YOUR family, human, that was chosen as the perfect family! You were all so happy and middle class that you would make the most suitable control group for me to ANNIHILATE! With some prodding, and...pleading, I convinced the Tallest to lend me a memory altering device, which I used to change the memory of your family in the middle of night as they slept!" Zim suddenly frowned. "But perfect as I am, I still make mistakes every now and then. I got the address wrong on my first try, and a...confrontation ensued at your neighbors', the Johnsons, house. So they had to go."

Fudge was about to ask how Zim had gotten rid of them, but decided against it.

"I wasted so much time in the wrong home, I ran out of time to alter the memories of everyone here! I got your mother, your father, your sister, your cat...but not YOU. At first, I saw it as a hindrance to my plan, but it turned out it only made my victory even sweeter! For I watched as I slowly tore your your family unit apart, and watched you crumble along with it!" cackled Zim. "And while humans CAN be pretty easily conquered by their emotions, there were a few other precautions I had to take. One of them involved little, um...Spoonkles, I believe he was called."

"Sprinkles..." Fudge breathed with tears spilling gently from his eyes.

"Yes...since I couldn't get close enough to you, or trust GIR to do the job for me, so I injected 'Sprinkles' with a substance, that caused the beast to become near-feral, and I knew that if it infected you, it would render you WEAK, and unable to interfere further with my plans! What I didn't plan on was the venom to actually KILL the animal, so I had to have it hastily buried in the backyard. Then I moved on to tearing down the rest of your family, and you know how that went."

"The rest of my family...?" wheezed Fudge. "...what about my parents?"

"Oh, them. Not important," Zim replied simply. He began heading for the stairs. "Right now, I've got to get out of here. Come along, GIR, Minimoose has the Voot waiting!"

GIR popped out of a different box this time, his arms full of bubble wrap, and started following Zim out of the house.

Fudge was unable to keep his head up any longer and collapsed, succumbing to the poison in his knee.

* * *

><p>(AN: FWOOOO! One epilogue-like chapter to go! Thanks for reading all this so far! Kinda disjointed, isn't it? Or it feels that way to me. Like some parts of this story I REALLY like, but other parts, I...don't. What did you think?

I feel like some people are gonna go all psychoanalysis on this and deconstruct why Zim wanted to tear a perf family apart, and that's cool, but I really just wanted to write a disturbing story about Zim, sooo, IT'S NOT THAT DEEP, HONESTLY...MERP

But yeah, please review, fave, and follow, and I shall see you in the next and final chapter! More will be explained there, I promise! Au revoir!)


	8. Saturday again

(A/N: I'm leaving this beginning author's note to tell that there's no beginning author's note. HURRY, READ THE STORY)

* * *

><p>"Nyah!"<p>

"Good job flying the Voot, Minimoose!" Zim praised. "Who knew those nubs could do so much?"

"Nyah!" Minimoose squeaked once more.

With the Voot safely atop the house, Zim went down to his lab and recorded all he had learned at Fudge's house. There was still so much he didn't know about these humans and their "families", but Zim supposed he would wait until this whole debacle blew over before moving on with- -

"UHHH, Master?" GIR interrupted Zim's thoughts.

Zim turned around his chair, pulling the thought-recording helmet off of his head. "What is it, GIR?"

"I forgot how to put the trash in the can again!"

"GIR, GIR, GIR..." Zim shook his head angrily. He figured it wouldn't be too much trouble, so he got his disguise on and headed outside.

Out by the fence, the trash was scattered all over the place, and Zim began picking everything up. Right when he finished putting the bag into the can, a familiar human showed up in the cul-de-sac.

"Zim!" Dib called out, and began stepping towards the alien. "Finally you're back! Where have you been for the past week? What have you been up to? Is there some evil plan I should know abou- -!"

"SH!" Zim hissed out when he felt Dib had stepped too close. He pulled out his memory-altering device. (which looked like a big pen) "See this? This is a memory-altering device! And with it, ZIM SHALL- -"

Dib swatted the device out of Zim's hand and it smashed against the wooden fence, broken. And it exploded into molecules.

"...huh," Zim deflated, taking note of Dib's triumphant little smirk.

After that, he just turned and started back into the house.

Then he remembered something. "...hey, Dib-human!"

"What?"

"Have you ever heard of a 'Fudge Hopkins'?"

"Uh...no! Why?"

Zim scoffed in annoyance. "Never mind!"

He made sure to shut the door behind him, and he made sure to listen for Dib's footsteps on sidewalk to get quieter and quieter until he couldn't hear them anymore. With everything checked off of his to-do list, he returned to the lab and hooked himself up to his thought-recording machine again.

_"Note-to-Zim: Family units are overrated."_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Back at the Hopkins house, Fudge still lay on the basement floor. He had tried calling for help, but he figured he was wasting his breath. The poison had negated his ability to move, so all he could do was lie there on his face, waiting for Death to take him.

The last thing he could remember seeing was GIR following Zim over to the stairs, and the last thing he could remember hearing was Zim closing the basement door.

He still couldn't believe that Zim was an alien, and he had done away with Fudge's entire life.

He closed his eyes...

...

Well, at least now, he would be reunited with everybody...

Right?

* * *

><p>(AN: WOW I CAN'T BELIEVE I ENDED IT LIKE THAT, HOLY CRAP

You can, uh...draw from that ending what you will. I hope you got what I was going for, but if not, feel free to ask and I'll elaborate a bit!

Well, thank you ever so much for reading this story, um, I have a lot of one-shots in the works right now, for South Park, Invader Zim, AND Adventure Time, so I better get to that!

Please review, fave and check out my profile! Au revoir!)


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